Darcha to Padum via the Shingo La trekking route

Gentle stream crossing above Zanskar Sumdo Many cyclists find this route too tempting to resist, in order to avoid backtracking or taking a bus on the road from Kargil into Padum. From Zanskar Sumdo to Dorzong it is a trekking route which took us 7 hard days, carrying our kit on our backs and pushing our bikes. Unless you want the challenge of pushing, it makes sense to employ horses to help you. The horsemen in this area are used to seeing cyclists, so arranging to have your bike and kit carried shouldn’t be too difficult to organise in high season. It is a spectacular bike-hike, and on the Zanskar side of the Shingo La we were able to ride about 15kms. More lightly loaded cyclists would be able to ride quite a bit more. Here’s our blog post for this route.

Total KM Stage KM Comment
0 Turn off main Manali-Leh road on hairpin above Darcha.
19 Surface mostly fine, some big streams to wade near Zanskar Sumdo.
19 Zanskar Sumdo (3,930m). Camping (Rs100 per tent) and tea stall.
88 Trek from Zanskar Sumdo to Dorzong, over the Shingo La (5,058m). Took us 7 days in total, pushing our bikes and carrying all our kit on our backs. Unable to ride anything between ZS and Lakhang, but rode ~15kms from there to Dorzong.
107 Dorzong (3,730m). Cross bridge to join jeep track.
36 Cycle to Padum. Last ~20kms are paved.
143 Padum (3,600m). Lots of Guest Houses and shops. Internet but no ATM.

 

Route Summary
Total amount climbed 4,400m
Traffic Virtually nothing on the jeep tracks, none (surprisingly) on the trek
Difficulty 5+ – this isn’t a cycle -it’s mostly pushing bikes on a trek
When we cycled July 2012
How much we had to push 79km

Back to Himalaya Biking Route Information

5 thoughts on “Darcha to Padum via the Shingo La trekking route

      1. col

        Did you have to carry your bicycles at any points, or was it possible to keep the wheels on the ground all the time when pushing? (Another motorcycle question…)

        1. Harriet and Neil Post author

          Hi, I remember have to carry them for a few minutes, but the vast majority of the time we were pushing them. But bits were narrow and on steep inclines and we were on the path and pushing the bikes next to the path – it would have been very difficult to do this with a motorcycle…
          This was summer of 2012, I don’t know what’s changed since then.
          Cheers
          Neil

          1. Radu

            Dear Neil,

            Sounds promising! I’m headed out there at the end of August – beginning of September. I’ll give it a shot on a light motorcycle. Give me a shout if you want to know how that went.

            Cheers,
            Radu

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